26 MARCH
Featured Events
1995 Eazy-E (Eric Wright) dies of AIDS-related complications at age 31.More
1994 Modern rock rules as Soundgarden's Superunknown is the #1 album in America, with Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral at #2. Those looking for something less intense can find it at #3, with the Ace of Base album The Sign.
1987 Nike begins airing a commercial using the Beatles song "Revolution," marking the first time an original version of a Beatles song is used in an ad.More
1977 "Rich Girl" hits #1 in America, giving Hall & Oates their first of six chart-toppers on the Hot 100.
1977 The Clash release their first single, making an immediate political statement with "White Riot." It is released only in the UK and not available in America until two years later.
1971 The Rolling Stones' lips and tongue logo appears for the first time when it is used on VIP passes for their show at the Marquee Club in London.More
1966 After 14 years on TV (and ten years on radio before that), the last episode of The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, which made Rick Nelson a household name, airs on ABC.
26 MARCH
In Music History
2024 Donald Trump partners with Lee Greenwood, endorsing the God Bless The USA Bible, which includes the chorus lyrics to Greenwood's song. "I'm proud to be partnering with my very good friend Lee Greenwood," Trump says. "Who doesn't love his song 'God Bless the USA'?"
2019 Ranking Roger (Roger Charlery), the toaster for General Public and The English Beat, dies at 56 after a battle with cancer.
2018 Kesha, an ordained minister, presides over a same-sex wedding between two of her fans in Las Vegas. Footage is used in her video for "I Need A Woman To Love," a reworking of the Janis Joplin song "I Need a Man to Love."
2012 Madonna's 12th studio album, MDNA, debuts, hitting #1 on the Billboard album charts and selling a hot 350,000 copies in two weeks.
2009 Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy hosts the MTV Australia Awards. His band wins Best Rock Video for "I Don't Care," while Pink's "So What" takes Best Video.
2008 The B-52's lose their apostrophe and become the B-52s with the release of their album Funplex. The apostrophe, which is grammatically incorrect because apostrophes show possession, was simply an error made by the friend that designed their logo.
2008 Guitarist Clint Lowery returns to Sevendust to replace Sonny Mayo.
2006 Nikki Sudden (co-founder of Swell Maps) dies of a heart attack at age 49.
2005 Paul Hester (drummer for Crowded House) commits suicide at age 46.
2004 Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean) dies at age 62.
2002 Drummer Randy Castillo, who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue, dies of cancer at age 51.
2001 Gorillaz release their debut self-titled album, which becomes a surprise chart success in the US. Although the band's vocalist, Damon Albarn, is well known in Europe through his band Blur, he is virtually unknown in the States, leading to low expectations for the release. The album eventually sells over a million copies in America and peaks at #14.
1999 Bengali musician Ananda Shankar dies of heart failure at age 56.
1991 Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 is released.
1988 "Man In The Mirror" becomes the fourth of a record five #1 hits from Michael Jackson's Bad album.
Video Makes Radio Stars Out Of Duran Duran
1983Thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, Duran Duran have their first American hit when "Hungry Like The Wolf" hits #3 on the Hot 100.
When MTV launched in 1981, they were saddled with lots of seasoned rockers, as new acts couldn't afford to make videos. But across the pond, a photogenic five-piece called Duran Duran was making waves with their first album, released in the UK a few months before MTV and not available in America. Their second album, Rio, was released the following year and took off in their homeland, with the single "Hungry Like The Wolf" climbing to #5 in June. Their record label, eager to break them in America, zeros in on MTV. A typical video with miming and special effects won't do, so they commission director Russell Mulcahy to shoot an Indiana Jones-inspired tale on location in the jungles of Sri Lanka. MTV plays it like crazy, and Duran Duran quickly becomes familiar to Generation X. The video establishes the group as exotic playboys, and their posters soon adorn the walls of teenage girls from Poughkeepsie to Pomona. Radio stations follow the lead and play the song, which 10 months after its UK release becomes a bona fide hit in America. Duran Duran remain MTV mainstays throughout the '80s, with the network lapping up extravagant videos for songs like "Union Of The Snake" and "Wild Boys." Their biggest competition in the video star rubric is Michael Jackson, who plants his flag on the network with innovative videos from his Thriller album.
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